Abstract This is a proposal from the Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences at the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC) to establish the UIC-NEI K12/Independent Clinician Vision Scientist (ICVS) Development Program. The proposed program takes a needs-assessment approach to identify the barriers to achieving independence that confront clinicians who have demonstrated the skills needed to become independent clinician scientists and designs a K12 training program to address those needs. The program recognizes that immersion in research under the guidance of excellent mentors is a key ingredient for investigator transition to independence. Therefore, the Department proposes the K-12 curriculum for mentoring scholars who have demonstrated readiness to be immersed in a research project. UIC-NEI K12/Independent Clinician Vision Scientist (ICVS) Development Program aims to provide an academically-rich and supportive environment to enable qualified early-stage clinician vision scientists to engage in a structured and mentored learning experience that will facilitate career advancement and enable trainees to become independent scientists. The program has two goals: Goal I is to establish a public university-public health agency partnership to train independent clinician vision scientists (ICVS); Goal II is to provide scientific development, authentic mentorship and professional development of the UIC-NEI K12/ICVS scholars and ensure their transition to independence. Achievement of these goals will enable UIC-NEI K12/ICVS Development Program scholars to transition to independence become national leaders in vision health research, and to become the educators, mentors, and role models for a new generation of vision health researchers.